MOSAIC MOMENTS

A few years back, one of our dear families wrote into our support group at a time that they truly needed support. And, our families on our support group, as always, did not disappoint. In our little corner of the world we have an online e-group that allows families to email one another about their worries, concerns, joys and sometimes…their heartache.

This support group has grown from just a few families emailing one another to over 600 families throughout the world! And, you would think that with that many families in our organization, it would not be very close knit. Thankfully, that is not true! We consider ourselves a very large extended family and when one of our families rejoices, we all rejoice with them! When one of our families is sad, we are sad with them and we are there to encourage them because we strongly feel that when you are part of a family, you should stick together through thick and thin.

I received a picture frame years ago from a surprise birthday party that my wonderful son, Tim had planned all on his own. The picture frame said “Family” and I began to think about what picture I could put in there. I could put a picture of my husband and I with our boys…but I didn’t want to leave out the grandchildren. Then, I thought about my sister and my mom and all my family members who mean so much to me. Then, there is my church family and my friends…. And my family at IMDSA! I quickly realized that I was going to need a much bigger picture frame!

So, instead I put this:

“Family isn’t just who you are born into–

It is who you meet along the way”

I want you to meet another one of my dear family members…

Sydney is an amazing little girl! She has mosaic Down syndrome and in her short five years she has fought the battle of cancer and WON! When her mom Leslie, received the news of her daughter’s cancer our family gathered around her and we felt this diagnosis with her. We worried and we prayed. And as Sydney got better we rejoiced right along with her as well! She is such a little hero and a great inspiration of HOPE to so many families whose children are facing the same thing. 

She is witty, charming and so beautiful!

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Sydney’s mom, Leslie, shared a bit of Sydney’s life with us today. This is what Leslie told us about Sydney…

Her language skills are amazing.  Perhaps I appreciate this more as I was told the day after she was born by the hospital pediatrician that  she may not talk or form relationships!  Clearly, she has proven them wrong.

Sydney attends an integrated kindergarten class five days a week in the afternoons.  Twice a month they have show had has show and tell.  Trying to explain to Sydney that she had to pick an item to share with the class was vexing.  She wanted to bring in EVERYTHING.  I talked her into picking two items. She picked a doll that speaks French and her tutu.  She also stuck this frilly head piece that she plays dress up with into the backpack.

The note came home from school that day and the teacher said the Syd was the hit of the classroom. The classroom is very structured which I like. Each child has to go to there seat, place their backpacks on the table, then stand up, push their chair in, bring their backpack to the hood outside in the hall going out the out door and coming back in through the in door. She does this without assistance.  When Syd was asked to go to her backpack and get her item to show, she entered with her doll that speaks French.  When she was done, the teacher told her to return the doll to her backpack which she did, however, she entered the classroom wearing her tutu!  She then shared this item and was again asked to return this to her backpack.  Instead, however, she kept the tutu on, and returned wearing the frilly thing on her head!  The classroom was thoroughly entertained.  When the teacher asked her to put the things back, she put the frilly thing away, but chose to keep the tutu on for the remainder of class.

Truly a child with an imagination and a flare for comedy! I could not be more proud.   Daily, I wait for the stories to come home from school.  The teacher and I communicate through a notebook.  Sydney even makes sure that the notebook is in her backpack so that her teacher gets it.  So here’s to cognition, imagination, memory skills, and developing as she should!

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